Bretons in the Forest of Huelgoat

Paul Sérusier (French, 1864-1927)

In this scene a mother and her children are assembled in flat profile or frontal poses, with serious expressions and large, coarse hands. The patterns of their aprons, much admired by Sérusier, are decorative features that enliven this rather somber view of Breton life.

The family is set amid the granite rocks and dense woods of Huelgoat, an inland town where Sérusier summered from 1891 to 1893. The regular spacing of the trees and the broad zones of color in the background reinforce the image's flat patterns.

Provenance research is on-going at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Please contact Annette Schlagenhauff, Curator of Special Projects, at aschlagenhauff@imamuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.

Samuel Josefowitz Collection of the School of Pont-Aven, through the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc., the Josefowitz Family, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Cornelius, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard J. Betley, Lori and Dan Efroymson, and other Friends of the Museum